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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Homemade Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage

Grinding Up Spicy Red Pepper

Recipe by Bruce

Two things that I appreciate about my husband Bruce are his
ability to cook and his willingness to do so. One of the first meals he made
for me, 15 or so years ago, was spaghetti more or less like his Dad used to
make it (recipe tomorrow)--plus the addition of his homemade turkey sausage.
Back in those days, not many men made sausage unless they were professional
chefs. Even my cynical roommate seemed impressed, and she didn’t even get to
taste the results.

Bruce first started making sausage when he realized that
commercially-made turkey sausage had a surprising amount of calories, fat, and
additives compared to ground turkey. After researching sausage spicing he decided to make his own. He briefly considered
using casings, but rejected the idea for simplicity’s sake. Sausage in this
recipe is cut into crumbly chunks, but you could make more formal mini-patties
or mini-meatballs if you have time, or stuff casings if that’s your preference.

Closeup of Spices

Note that this sausage is quite spicy. If you like it
milder, cut down on the ground red pepper flakes and/or reduce the cayenne.
Bruce says he wants to try adding ground fennel seed to this, starting with ¼ -
½ tsp., so feel free to add your own inspired ingredients. Be sure to use dried
herbs that are still fragrant and within the “best when used by” dates.

Put ground turkey in bowl and break into chunks. It’s
easiest to do this with a wooden spatula. Add mixed herbs and use spatula to
mash together with meat until blended.

At this point you can choose to make patties,
mini-meatballs, or stuff casings, or simply make crumbly chunks for pasta sauce
or soups.

Add olive oil to electric frying pan and turn heat to 400
degrees (medium high). When hot, add meat and chop up large chunks into
approximately 1-inch pieces. Brown for 4 minutes, turning once to brown all
sides. Meatballs and casing sausage will take longer to brown and require more
turning to brown all sides.

When all sides are brown, reduce heat to 350 degrees and
cook about 4 more minutes, until meat is cooked through.

We like this in spaghetti sauce, but it can be used in any
way that you like other sausage, as long as you shape the way you enjoy it.